Apple Fritters

We took The G Man apple picking at a local orchard this weekend. Despite the fact that it was cool and drizzly, we had a blast – and came home with a half a peck of apples I need to find something to do with.

This particular recipe took care of two of them, at least.

I’ve been meaning to make a good, gluten-free apple fritter for some time now – I’m glad I finally did. These are just wonderful; crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside and the apples were cooked to tender-crisp perfection. They also reheat quite well in a 325 F oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

The fritters have a great apple flavor due to macerating the apples with the sugar and spices and including the resultant liquid in the batter – simply superb. You also want to make sure you dice the apples fairly small, to make sure there is plenty of apple in every fritter.

A lot of apple fritter recipes call for dusting them with powdered sugar or glazing them (at least one recipe I came across called for both), but I found them sweet enough on their own, with a very slight dusting of organic pure cane sugar. Beloved drizzled his with maple syrup and declared them the most delicious thing he’d eaten all morning.

Alas, the fritters are not dairy free, but you can make them so by subbing the milk with equal amounts of water and coconut milk and the butter with coconut oil. Use the palm oil shortening, which is what I used, and they are vegetarian as well.

Click on the image to enlarge

Apple Fritters

Serves: 8

[i]Two fritters per serving[/i]

Ingredients

2 large cooking apples, peeled and diced

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 tablespoon potato flour

2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

tallow, lard or palm oil shortening

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the diced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and evaporated cane juice until well combined. Set aside and allow to macerate for at least 30 minutes.

Transfer the apples and their juices to a colander suspended over another bowl for about 15 minutes, capturing the juice – you should have about a 1/4 cup liquid. Transfer the apples to a smaller bowl and set aside; add enough milk to the juice from the apples to make 3/4 cup and set aside as well.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl in which you macerated the apples, whisk the eggs, vanilla and the milk/apple juice mixture. Stir in the dry ingredients just until moistened; add the butter and stir until mixed, but still a bit lumpy. Fold in the apples.

In a large, deep skillet heat a good amount of the fat to 350 F. Working in batches, drop spoonfuls of the batter gently into the hot fat and fry until golden brown on the bottom; carefully flip and continue frying until golden brown on the other side and the fritters are cooked through.